Immune cell gives possible explanation for sex differences in pancreatic cancer

In recent years, immunotherapy, which stimulates the immune system to attack cancer cells, has contributed significantly to the treatment of different kinds of cancer, such as melanoma and lung, kidney and liver cancer. However, it is much less effective against pancreatic cancer, which remains one of the deadliest kinds of cancer that leaves patients, on average, with four to six months left to live after diagnosis.

Immunotherapy is an effective form of therapy for different types of cancer. However, for pancreatic cancer, its effect is limited and differs between men and women. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have now found a possible explanation for this sex difference. The study, which is published in Cancer Research, reveals the presence of an immune cell in women with pancreatic cancer that obstructs the body’s immune response. The results can pave the way for a more sex-specific treatment.

The study demonstrated a crucial difference in tumour properties in men and women with pancreatic cancer. There is a type of immune cell present in women that protects the tumour and prevents the immune system’s T cells from infiltrating the tumour and attacking the cancer cells.

This sub-group of immune cells correlates with poor survival exclusively in female cancer patients. The study results show that the immune cells express a specific protein called FPR2 and can serve both as a sex-specific prognostic factor and a therapeutic target.

The results can be useful to the development of diagnostic tools and immunotherapy for pancreatic cancer that take into account biological differences between men and women. The study was based on a combination of methods including single-cell RNA sequencing, proteomics, test tube and patient validation, and treatments of 3D pancreatic cancer models and mice.

Reference:

Immune cell gives possible explanation for sex differences in pancreatic cancer; Cancer Research, DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-22-2932